On this week's episode of Lifehacker, we're working around the Google Plus invite desert, trapping and repelling summer pest with some simple DIY, saving a little money with your smartphone, and more.

This is the third episode in Lifehacker's summer series. The format is slightly different from our regular episodes but the content is just as good. Here are this week's episode notes:

How Can I Get an Invitation to Google Plus?

Google introduced their highly anticipated social network, Google Plus, on Tuesday as an invite-only service. Not surprisingly, a lot of people are interested in trying it out.

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The folks at Google allowed current members to invite friends for a short window last week, and we started a Google Plus Invite thread at Lifehacker to spread the love. Unfortunately, Google closed invites shortly thereafter.

Google has re-opened Google+ invitations for current users, which means the official Google Plus…
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So how do you get an invitation now?

For starters, you should visit the start page and sign up for an invite whenever Google gets around to sending one. But that's the obvious route, and it could take a while.

If you happen to know someone who's already got a Google Plus invite, you do have another option, which I tested and which worked for me. Keep in mind that Google could always change this, so you mileage may vary.

First, I created a new Circle called "Test", then I added a new friend to that circle—the person I wanted to try inviting to Google Plus.

Then I posted to my stream and mentioned my friend in that post.

Several hours later, I received an email from Google notifying me of my friends' post and inviting me to join Google Plus.

I can't guarantee this will work for everyone, but it did work in my test, and I've read that others have had similar luck. Again, it requires that you know someone with an account, but if you're past that stumbling block, it's an option worth trying. Also keep in mind that Google has more recently been claiming that they're at capacity, so even if you get an invite, you might have trouble logging in. That said, when they extend their capacity again, your invite should likely still be good.

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